If you’re still unsure whether or not “Morbius” is a horror movie, you can always look to the guy playing him for answers. Jared Leto himself has gone on the record as saying that the upcoming film will be “a Jekyll and Hyde story that’s just big and fun, and sometimes is a little scary, which is, I think, different for that genre. And I’m excited about it. That should be a big, fun popcorn movie.” 

For those who don’t know, “Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde” is a classic horror story about a man struggling to suppress the evil within himself, which takes on a life and identity of its own thanks to a scientific potion. There’s an obvious parallel between Dr. Jekyll’s struggles with his evil alter ego Hyde, and that of Dr. Morbius’ humanity fighting against his desire to inflict violence and his thirst for blood.

In the end, it’s probably best to accept that movies can (and often do) fall into multiple genre categories, and our need to define things as one or the other just isn’t very realistic. Horror movies can be defined by a deliberate intent to scare audiences, and it appears as though there are many intentionally scary elements in “Morbius” while also being a superhero movie. 

By all accounts thus far, “Morbius” is shaping up to be a genre mashup that will hopefully be worth the very long wait it took to finally get into theaters. Ultimately, we can only speculate ahead of the film’s April 1, 2022, theatrical release. But audiences will know soon enough if it lives up to its promised chills.